Nero 7 Ultra Edition ENHANCED review

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I know… I’m way behind on this one! Back in January 2006 I contacted Ahead Software, the makers of Nero (the CD/DVD burning software) asking to do a review. They promptly sent me the packaged product in the mail along with some PR material. I started to use it right away, and have been impressed with it every step of the way. The product has been updated a couple of times since then, and just recently it was announced that version 8 would be coming out soon (it’s out now). After having the product for 2 years, I figured it was about time I put something together.

This may sound like a lame excuse, but the biggest problem with doing a review for this product, was the number of features there were in the product. At one point or another, the suite came with the following features:

  • Nero Home
  • Nero Burning ROM
  • Nero Scout
  • Nero StartSmart
  • Nero Express
  • Nero Vision
  • Nero Recode
  • Nero Wave Editor
  • Nero SoundTrax
  • Nero Cover Designer
  • Nero ShowTime
  • Nero PhotoShow Express
  • Nero PhotoSnap
  • Nero PhotoSnap Viewer
  • Nero MediaHome
  • InCD
  • InCD Reader
  • Nero ImageDrive
  • Nero BackItUp

Over time, I’ve had a chance to use many of the features. In previous version of the suite, Nero Burning ROM was the star. It is a powerful CD/DVD burning utility that gives you access to a lot of different options. However, most users will use Nero StartSmart and Nero Express. Nero StartSmart is a front-end program that runs and from there you choose what you’d like to do and then the appropriate program starts. There is a regular user mode and a “geek” mode that offers more options. More often than not, you end up using Nero Express. This is the wizard-driven CD/DVD burning utility. I use this for almost all of my burning. It is very easy to use.

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Nero Vision is the DVD authoring tool. You can use this program to create a DVD that is playable in a standard DVD player. You can import video either directly from a video camera or by choosing existing video files on your computer. You then have options for create menus, chapters, and more. Burning a DVD for use in this way takes much longer than creating a data DVD as the movie usually needs to be recoded to fit on the disk better. I’ve used this tool to create my own DVDs. It took some practice to understand the different features, but the end products look very nice.

Nero PhotoSnap with the associated viewer is an image editing/viewing program. This was a bonus program as I wasn’t expecting it in the package. Ahead Software has turned Nero into an all-encompassing multimedia suite of tools, so an imaging program was needed. One of the best things about the program is that it reads many different image formats. For instance, I had some Photoshop files (PSD) on my memory stick, and Nero was able to display the files.

The packaged product came in a very cool box and a QuickStart Guide that described the programs it came with. The basic requirements are for a PIII 800MHz processor with 128 MB of RAM. Depending on what features of the program, higher speeds are recommended. The install itself takes up to 600MB, but it is recommended there be 9GB or more free space for working with videos. At the initial release of version 7, the program still worked with Windows 98.

As I mentioned at the beginning, with version 8 out now, all of this information is out-dated. But if history proves anything, it will be that version 8 will be even better. I’ve used the last 3 version of the Nero suite, and the program has always been stable and each new version has included useful new features. If you don’t want to spend the money on version 8, but can get you hands on Nero 7 for a good price, it will be well worth the price.

Comments 2

  • i want to download this nero xpress now pls help me to download

  • Este cel mai tare nero si usor de folosit . Incercati cu incredere . Il am si eu 😉

    Editor update: Google Translate says this is Romanian. The commenter said:
    Nero is the best and easy to use. Try with confidence. I got it myself;)

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